KARMA: More Than 100 Police Departments Withdraw From Providing Security To Democratic National Convention

K. WalkerJuly 29, 2020

32 3 minutes read

What’s the problem? I thought there were a whole lot of Democrats that want the police defunded or even abolished.

The news began to drop on Monday when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a number of police departments were withdrawing from the agreements that they had made to provide officers to help with security at the Democratic National Convention scheduled for August 17-20 at Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center.

Some police agencies have said that the strain on resources due to COVID and the ongoing protests following the May death of George Floyd doesn’t leave them with enough officers available to fulfill their commitment. Other police departments have cited a new directive in Milwaukee banning the use of pepper spray and tear gas by police to control crowds.

A citizen oversight commission last week directed Milwaukee’s police chief to publicly account for why the department used tear gas during protests in late May and early June after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and to change Milwaukee’s police policies to ban the use of tear gas and pepper spray. The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission said in its order that Police Chief Alfonso Morales could be fired if he fails to comply.

That order came amid intense scrutiny of police tactics at protests in Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere.

Since the Milwaukee order was issued, more than 100 law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin and across the country decided against coming to Milwaukee, Morales told WTMJ-TV on Tuesday. They were concerned with directives placed on the police department, including not allowing tear gas or pepper spray, he said.

Source: Yahoo News

Police departments outside of Milwaukee don’t want their officers to go into an unsafe situation that will put them, as well as the public in general, at risk.

Several law enforcement agencies have sent letters to Milwaukee’s police chief saying just that.

“Our concern is that in the event protests turn non-peaceful, such a policy would remove tools from officers that may otherwise be legal and justifiable to utilize in specific situations,” West Allis Deputy Chief Robert Fletcher said in an email.

The decision to withdraw was not done lightly, he said, but the department believed such a policy would compromise the safety of officers and the public.

Franklin Police Chief Rick Oliva raised similar concerns in a letter he sent to Morales last week stating that his agency was no longer sending personnel to assist at the convention “due to recent decisions by Milwaukee elected and appointed officials.”

“It is apparent there is a lack of commitment to provide the Milwaukee Police Department with the resources it needs to ensure the safety of peaceful protesters, attendees, citizens and police personnel,” Oliva wrote in his July 23 letter, copies of which were sent to Mayor Tom Barrett, the Common Council president and the FPC. “I can not send personnel if they are not properly equipped or will not be allowed to engage in appropriate actions which would ensure their safety.”

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Democratic National Convention has been scaled-down due to COVID concerns and will be a mostly-virtual event with only about 300 in-person attendees expected.

But as we have seen, “protesters” don’t care about that and are willing to swarm an event to get their voices heard.

And let’s be pretty frank–there are some very ticked off Bernie Bros out there.

One of Bernie’s organizers said that “Milwaukee will burn” if Sanders didn’t win the nomination.

Should the citizens of Milwaukee be concerned now that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the race?

His paid campaign organizer Kyle Jurek told @PVeritas_Action that it “will burn” if Sanders didn’t get the nomination. #Expose2020 pic.twitter.com/T21gG5cWGQ

— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) April 8, 2020

Perhaps that’s what law enforcement is concerned about.

We’ve seen the kind of lawlessness that is happening in various Democrat-run cities and it’s those same Democrat leaders that are tying the hands of police departments.

Let the DNC figure out security on its own. Perhaps they can send out a team of social workers like they want to do with 911 calls.

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